Akwa Ibom Assembly approves Udom’s N150bn loan request

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has granted Governor Udom Emmanuel’s request to raise N150billion from the money market for the funding of ongoing projects in the State.

The request letter was deliberated during Tuesday’s plenary by members of the House of Assembly

The letter said that the state government would raise a “financial instrument” in the total sum of N150 billion either through “promissory note discounting” or “direct credit substitute” to facilitate completion of the projects.

Gov. Emmanuel  explained in the letter that the instrument would not require Irrevocable Standing Payment Order or any guarantee, hence no monthly deduction would be made from Federal allocations to the state.

Leader of the House, Sir Udo Kierian Akpan, who led the discussion, noted that the governor had assured that he intended to “create” the needed money within the money market, and not take a loan.

He said, “For me, the first thing the Governor has tried to make us know is that the instrument he is going to raise is not a loan. He has what it takes to create the money from the market without involving the assets of the state.

“The second thing is that the instrument does not require deduction of allocations to the state. If the money is not going to be deducted from the federation account, that means we have no issue because what would have been an issue is how we get the money refunded.”

He added, “The governor is a financial expert and a banker, he knows how to create the money from the banks. He knows how they trade, he knows how they get promissory notes, and he knows how they get financial instruments sorted out.

“Having looked at what he wants to do with the money, I believe that it is something that is good for Akwa Ibom people. All we can do is to make sure that the various MDAs are properly oversighted to ensure that projects are completed and on schedule to make sure that Akwa Ibom benefits from the money raised to the state.”

Meanwhile, all the lawmakers approved the request by the Governor, saying that they were in support of the request, as they wanted to be part of the history of a good legacy to the Akwa Ibom people.